REVIEW / Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection (Vita)

Do you have what it takes to create the next pop music idol? If you answered yes, then Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection from NIS America will give you a chance to put your money where your mouth is. In this quirky Japanese idol producer simulator, you take on the role of the main character who has been brought against your will to the world of Gamindustry and tasked with choosing one of four female CPU’s, or Console Patron Units, to be their producer and to manage their idol singing careers. The fate of Gamindustry is in your hands so it will be up to you to properly train these CPUs in the art of being a pop idol or their beloved fans will be stolen away by the nefarious popular idol group MOB-48; a 48 member band that has taken the world of Gamindustry by storm. It will be your job to teach these girls to sing, dance, and properly promote themselves to the general populace to finally put MOB-48 in their place. Raise the popularity of your idol enough and you may be able to assemble singing duets or maybe even a full ensemble.

You get the option to choose which CPU you would like to work with.

In Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection, gameplay takes place over the course of several days. You have a certain number of days to train your CPU in the ways of being an idol to bring back all of your fans before the super-group MOB-48 lures them all away. You can have your CPU take singing lessons or dance lessons in order to raise their stats in these areas. As a singing idol, your CPU will need to be in top form in order to attract more and more fans. I mean, what is an idol without the latest dance moves and a voice that sounds like an angel? In addition, you will have to set up publicity events to promote your concerts so that you can have the biggest audience attendance numbers possible. You need to keep in mind, however, that you can’t push your diva too hard or she will get stressed out and that will mean game over. Send your CPU on a nice vacation to relieve the stresses involved with rigorous idol training so that she can be at her best for the spectacular shows that she will put on.

You have five areas to build upon while taking your CPU to super idol status.

The graphics in Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection are really amazing on the Vita screen and show how well it is built to handle millions of colors. The art is done in the anime inspired big head, big eyes style which really gives each of the characters a lot of personality. Colors are bright and flashy as you would expect of a game that is built around putting on musical concerts and really helps to set the tone of the whole game. The backdrops of the different locations such as your CPUs main office, bedroom and even the concert stages are brilliantly rendered and gives the game world a futuristic feeling. The artwork is a truly standout feature which helps make the game fun and entertaining and will keep you wanting to train your CPU to the best of her abilities.

Backgrounds and character models are spectacularly crafted.

As you would expect, the sound in Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection is awesome. When you first take on your chosen CPU to train in the art of being an idol, you will have only one song that she can perform in concert. As you progress through the game, however, you will fairly quickly open up more songs to add to her song list and therefore will have the ability to attract more fans because of the variety of songs that she can perform. The songs are the type of quirky songs that you would expect in this type of game with titles like, “Fly High !”, “Dear… Everyday” and “HP LOVE Power.” The cool part of this game is that all of the characters dialogue is recorded except for when your character speaks. Many games in this genre will only have certain parts voice recorded and leave many other parts only readable. This really helps to immerse you into the fantastical story and keeps you wanting to see if you can be successful at getting your CPU to mega idol status.

It's showtime!

Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection was a nice surprise and I didn’t think that I would enjoy playing it as much as I did. I have always wanted to try a game in this series but never got the opportunity until now. The music really kept me engaged and there was enough of a variety of songs that I never got tired of hearing the same music over and over. I should note that there is a lot of dialogue so this may turn some players off. This is typical for this type of game so it is to be expected, however, it really helped to flesh out the characters that you will interact with as well as making them a believable part of the game world.

The feature of the game that got to be kind of monotonous is the daily cycle that the game uses on the path to making your CPU an idol. The basic pattern that comprises the flow of the game is you wake up in the morning, choose an activity or event for your CPU then call it a night. This process, for the most part, repeats every day that you are training your CPU. I think that this could have been better accomplished by allowing the player to choose three or four different activities and events that they want to complete during the day so that it doesn’t get to be too much of a wash, rinse and repeat type of system. As it stands, players may find that this aspect takes them out of the flow of the game and may be a hindrance to game completion. Overall, regardless of this games idiosyncrasies, I was really impressed with Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection and I can see myself going back in and choosing a different CPU to train to super mega idol star status.

About The Author

David is a native of Denver, CO who grew up at a time when the video game craze was just getting a foothold in the consciousness of young kids and teenagers all over America. His earliest exposure...
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